Chica

How did the Canadian Snow Gauge in Wawa Start?

In the Early Snowmobiling Years, Snowmobilers did not have information on the internet. We were open Year Round and our Snowmobilers came from Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Southern Ontario. They desperately needed info on the snow depths and trail conditions.

They had to phone Hotels, asking about Snow Conditions. We remember talking 8 HOURS a day about Trail and Snow Conditions. In the winter months, 2003 & 2004, our 1-800 number Phone bill was $800 a month!

I knew how to run a website back then, so to try to help solve the phone problem, we started a “Snow Cam” for all of our sledders. They could watch the snow pile up on our website. We showed snow depth by stacking the Canadian Snow Gauge in Wawa – 4 Beer Cases High.

I photographed snow depths daily, reported trail conditions, designed Trail Maps, listed trail closures/openings, photographed the snowmobilers & put them on the Snow Cam. (Remember, back then, before the age of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it was rare to have your photo on the internet.)

I took thousands of photos – We had so much fun!! (Many have been uploaded to our Facebook Page)

Back in 2004, we discovered the first Spiderhole, while John was under the Cottage, fixing frozen pipes!

Even though we went seasonal in 2005, I continued to run the Snow Cam for the dedicated Snow Watchers.

Chica showed up in 2011 to help us measure snow. Frosty would come by every once in a while too. (Frosty had a crush on Chica)

She found a new fellow at the Magpie Relay Hotel and decided to stay. But she no longer measures snow.

With Chica gone, I stopped photographing the snow for 2 years, but I missed it, and the Snowmobilers missed it. So it was time to stack them again!

But I no longer like the Snow Cam on Facebook. Facebook Business Pages are all about the $$$ now, and Facebook chooses to only feed out my posts to personal friends that don’t give a crap about snow. They don’t realize I’m only photographing it for the Snowmobilers. They simply think that I am boring them to tears, talking about snow and weather. (I’m sure many of them unfriended me for all the Snow Gauge posts in the past! lol)